A/N: Happy New Year!
Chapter 21: Take a Bow-Rihanna (Part One)
You put on quite a show
You really had me going
But now it's time to go
The curtains finally closing
"Momiji we've looked everywhere! He isn't in the building." Botan was tired. She and her sister had been looking for the silent demon lord for the better part of the morning to no avail. No one had seen him.
"We need to think of something and fast. They have to be warned about Tsubaki."
Momiji nodded in agreement.
"Wait! I saw InuYasha earlier outside, maybe he knows where his brother is!" Momiji slung her pack over her shoulder and tried to remember which lot she had seen the young hanyou in. Although it was no secret that the brothers more or less didn't care for one another, they were still related and if anyone would know where Sesshoumaru was it would be InuYasha.
"Come on! I think I remember seeing him park in Lot C by the dormitories. Hopefully he hasn't gone in yet, but I think we can catch him if we hurry."
~AYL~
InuYasha was annoyed.
Those few moments he spent with Kagome was messing with his head. He didn't know whether he should be concerned or not if he had been spellbound by the little wench. Literally just last week he was plotting against her and now he didn't even know where he stood.
She had him second guessing himself.
What type of person was he? How could he even think of harming someone who did nothing but protect themselves?
He didn't know, but he also didn't like the way he handled the situation either. And although the weight was lifted off his shoulders when he apologized, the amount of guilt he felt for planning to ruin her left him hollow.
He just knew he had to do something.
Which was why, he was currently waiting on Kouga in the parking lot. He was going to tell the wolf to back off and leave the wench alone. She didn't deserve it and his half-brother would probably kill them once he found out anyway.
Speaking of the Ice King, their cousin Yamato had text him a few minutes ago about keeping an eye out for him. The fuck? Like he would look after that bastard. Kagome aside-Sesshoumaru was still a prick and evil as hell. However, a small part of him wondered what was wrong. Deciding that it couldn't hurt, he sent a text to Yamato asking what his half-brother had gotten himself into just before a loud voice startled him,
"Yo mutt!"
InuYasha's ears flattened against his head and his eyes closed in annoyance. Why was he friends with this idiot?
"Dammit Kouga! Shut yer yap! I'm right fucking here." He watched as the wolf grinned and shrugged his shoulders before hopping on top of his car.
"Whatever. What did you want? You ready to take down Higurashi yet? We could have gotten this over and done with if you had just let me-
"We aren't doing anything Kouga. It's off; leave the wench alone." His voice was gruff but firm. He wanted the mangy wolf to know he was serious. He watched as Kouga's eyes widened and then narrow suspiciously,
"Fuck do you mean 'It's off', it can't be. We made a deal with Tsubaki-
"Fuck Tsubaki. All her lazy ass does is get other people to do her dirty work and I'm sick of it."
Kouga frowned. This wasn't what he was expected when he received the call to meet up with the mutt. He had plans; lots of plans that involved a certain raven-haired vixen and he was screwing them up! He had waited too long for her and he wanted her now! No one would get in his way.
"Your lost dog-boy. The freak is mine and I will be claiming her with or without you" He growled lowly.
InuYasha challenged his growl with one of his own and stood to face the wolf, "I'm warning you Kouga, back off!" He didn't want to fight but that fucking idiot was pushing him. He growled when Kouga suddenly brushed pass him and towards the dormitory entrance,
"Fuck you! She's mine and no one is stopping me from taking-
"InuYasha! InuYasha!"
InuYasha and Kouga turned towards the frantic voices and saw two girls he didn't recognize. His eyebrow rose, and he looked at Kouga who shrugged. Who the hell were these chicks?
The girl with short dark auburn hair ran up to him first, "InuYasha! Do you know where Sesshoumaru-sama is?" Her voice was pleading, but InuYasha could feel his eyes roll at the mention of his half-brothers name. Just what the hell is going on with him? And why the fuck did everyone think he was his keeper!?
"Aren't his fangirls supposed to have some kind of tracking device on him or something?" The magnitude of girls who followed his half-brother was no secret. Hell, he wouldn't put it past them if they formed their own Sesshoumaru based society.
"Fangirls?" The girl with the long dark hair spoke up, annoyance in her tone, "Look we just have to tell him something important! Do you know where he is or not!?" How dare he accuse them of being fangirls? They certainly had more dignity than that! Even though Sesshoumaru was deliciously ho-
"Listen girl, I don't know nor do I care! Find someone else to give your attention to cause that asshole sure isn't going to-
"InuYasha!"
InuYasha growled. What the fuck was it now?! He turned around and saw his cousin Yamato running towards him. He hadn't seen him look so frantic before. What was going on?
"Yamato? What're you doing here?"
Yamato had to catch his breath. He had tried to catch up with his older cousin as soon as he left the office but to no avail. He had thought he would transform by the amount of anger he displayed however, he was grateful he didn't. The town would be in chaos with a large dog on the loose. Nodding politely to the women in his cousin's company, he turned to face InuYasha.
"We have a problem"
InuYasha frowned, "Let me guess…yer looking for the prick too?" When Yamato nodded, He felt his concern and irritation grow. He was going to find out what the fuck was happening, and he was going to find out right now,
"Can somebody tell me what the fuck is going on?"
~AYL~
Alexis did not want to do this. Bankotsu had already called and told Naraku that they would be bringing Kagome tonight and her nerves were getting the best of her. Honestly, this would have been much better if she hadn't befriended the girl or if she didn't take to her on the first day. Kagome was the closest thing to a friend since Bankotsu and it was wrong to betray her this way.
She wished things could have been different.
If Naraku didn't have her family under surveillance, she would say fuck him and his obsession with the Shikon. She would give her all in her newly found relationship with Daisuke and she would be free. Free of all the dirt that Naraku had her dig up and free to do whatever she wanted. She would have been free to live, free to love, and free to be herself. Of course, life doesn't always turn out as planned.
She turned to grab her bag off the counter and thanked every God that would listen that Kagome wasn't in this morning. It had been 4 days since Naraku had requested Kagome to be captured within 5 days and she was nervous. Even the thought of taking her anywhere near that bastard made her stomach turn.
"Yo Alex, you ready?"
Alexis wanted to growl. Did he realize what he was asking? How would she ever be ready to sacrifice an innocent for the sake of her own family? How could she sentence a woman who has been mistreated her entire life, to a life of imprisonment with a sadistic psychopath like Naraku? How would she be able to live with herself?
"Alex, didja hear me?" Hearing the concern in Bankotsu's voice only made her feel worse. Could she really do this?
She shook her head, "No, I'm not ready Ban. This isn't right. I can't do this to her" Despite knowing that her sister and family could be in danger didn't make her feel any better. This was her mess she created with choices that she made, and it was time to own up to them.
Bankotsu rolled his eyes, "I know she's your friend Alex" He spoke softly moving until he stood before her. He reached out and pushed a stray strand of hair out of her face,
"I get it; really I do. But can you honestly betray your own family for some girl you just met? Think about it Alexis. What other choice do you have?" They had one job. One measly job and they would be able to pay the debts they owed to Naraku and release their own family. He couldn't let her squander away her chance of freedom for Kagome. Never.
Kagome wasn't worth it.
Sure, she was nice and he felt for her, honestly he did; but, to be frank, he didn't care.
He had family to watch out for and no one was going to stand in his way.
"But Ban! Kagome isn't the one who started this! We did! It was our choices, it was our mistakes, and it was our-
"Shut up Alex! You don't know what you're talking about okay?" Alexis watched as her friends' anger took over. His eyes closed and his hands were clenched into fist. Startled she took a hesitant step back.
"What are you trying to say Ban? That all of this was somehow Kagome's fau-
"I'm warning you Alexis, just shut up!"
Furious at being told what to do, Alexis squared her shoulders and looked her friend in the eyes,
"What aren't you telling me?" When he remained quiet, she spoke again, her own guilt and anger coming into the mix, "What secret are you keeping? And what does it have to do with Kagome huh?"
At his silence, something in her snapped and she reached out and struck him across the face. His head snapped to the side and his own hand rose to caress his cheek. He couldn't believe she hit him.
"Answer me! What are you hiding!?" She watched with barely concealed ire as he turned towards her. His anger, though still visible, was waning and his fight was leaving him. His shoulders dropped and his blue eyes bore into her own.
"Years ago my brothers and I were-we" Pausing, Bankotsu took a deep breath and started again. If he was going to be honest then it would be best if he started from the beginning,
"Alexis I'm not a good guy. Ok, I've robbed people, I've assaulted, I've killed, and I even took advantage of women… I'm a bandit. My "brothers" are my crew. They are guys that I've known since childhood and we enjoyed tormenting others for a long while. We were bullies. Ya know, we liked having people fear us, loved having people wish they could be us. After high school is where shit hit the fan. The law doesn't take kind to scum like us. We were caught after a bank robbery and I was charged with 81 counts of assault, domestic, and robbery charges. Collectively we had 900 charges against us. You could only guess how this would end."
He didn't dare turn away from her for fear that he would stop talking. Tears were already cascading down her lovely face and he felt his heat clench painfully in his chest. There was no doubt in his mind that he would never talk to her again after this and he wouldn't blame her. How could he?
"The seven of us were on death row. They kept us in different penitentiaries and scheduled our execution on the same day-August 2nd 2012 at 3pm. It was a day that I would never forget. The night before I was approached by a fellow inmate by the name of Naraku and he said that he would be able to free us all if we would work for him. At this time, I didn't care, I didn't even think to ask what I would be doing for him. The fear of death made me accept his proposal and though it doesn't matter I regret taking his bait. He did as he promised and freed us all before we were scheduled to be euthanized and took us to another country. He gave us everything we could ask for and more. Women were easy to come by, money was splurged, and riches were obtainable. I believed I made the best decision in my life.
On December 22nd 2015, I met a woman. This woman had no idea I existed, and I tried to keep it that way. I knew that having a relationship was forbidden and bringing someone innocent into my web was the ultimate cruelty; I just couldn't help myself. I followed the woman around for months, helping her vicariously through others and tried to make myself invisible as possible. Unfortunately, one of my brothers took note of this and told Naraku. Apparently, the father of the woman I was interested was indebted to Naraku and he took advantage of that. It was just another way to make sure we stayed and did his bidding. He had us ambush her home in the middle of the night-
Alexis eyes widened as realization dawned on her,
"-We drugged her parents and locked her sister in the hallway closet-
Her eyes narrowed as she tried to remember bits and pieces of the night she was captured.
"We placed a chloroformed infused bag over her head so that when she woke she wouldn't know how she got there-
A choked sob escaped her as she realized just who "she" was.
"And they placed me in the room with her just as disoriented to pretend as though we were both captured and victims to Naraku"
Alexis couldn't take anymore. In one fluid motion, she twisted her body to the left, slid her right foot back and then up to connect with his head. Not giving him the opportunity to get up, she launched herself at him and punch him in the face, repeatedly.
"Alexis please stop!"
Alexis screamed, "Please stop!? Please? Did you listen to those women you took advantage of when they said 'please' you sadistic fuck. Did you? Did you ever once show mercy for the people who you robbed and assaulted? How could you!? I thought we were friends!"
Bankotsu reached up to hold her, pinning her arms to her sides. His face hurt like hell, but he knew he deserved that and more,
"We are friends Alex!" He hugged her closer when she began to struggle, "You are one of my best friends. I can't lose you not like this."
"Let go of me!"
"I won't, not until you listen to all that I have to say" Her struggling never ceased and he found himself frowning deeply. He will let her go, if and only if she let him get everything out.
"I don't care! I don't want to know anymore stories. I don't want to know that you were a liar all this-all this time. I believed that you were my friend. I shared things with you that I couldn't share with anyone else and-
"I know Alex. I know. There is nothing I can do to change what I've done but at least allow me to explain-
"What more could you possibly have to tell me?! Huh? What else is there?" She shouted.
"That's what I would like to know as well."
Alexis turned towards the voice, while Bankotsu grit his teeth at the intruder,
"Kagome?" Alexis' whispered brokenly.